Last Friday a U.N. Security Council resolution forbidding North Korea from spreading nuclear and missile technology and it seem the United States is ready to test the will of the United Nations as well as the intent of North Korea.
Kang Nam, a North Korean ship, left port Wednesday and is expected to carrying banned materials. Apparently this vessel has repeatedly shipped band materials in the past and, as such, intelligence agencies believe it may be doing so once again.
Here is where things get, well, interesting. The U.N. Security Council resolution forbids a foreign power from forcibly boarding the ship. I kid you not. This would mean the USS John McCain, the interceptor, would need to radio the Kang Nam and say…
“Hey, yea, do you mind if we come aboard, look around a bit… see if you have anything illegal…”
If the ship actually has materials the outcome of that request is rather obvious. Even if they do not, I suspect the answer would be the same.
If there is absolutely no power to prevent the North Koreans from proliferating missile and nuke technology, what is the point of the resolution and why is the United States making it a point to press the North Koreans?
In regards to the U.N. resolutions, well, it’s because the group is a paper tiger. They want to have the ability to say “Look, we did something” while not really doing anything at all. They are trying to keep everyone happy, even those in violation of the law and regulations they’ve established; all in the name of world peace.
Yea, good luck with that.
I suspect the U.S. is sending the USS John McCain to test the reaction of other U.N. Security Council members – to gauge their reaction – in order to set the potential groundwork for a defensive attack toward North Korea if American interests are targeted.
Second, this may also be a way of calling out China. If the Chinese government supports the North Korean ship, or interferes with the intercept, they will do so on the world stage thereby showing the a conflict of interest between what was said in the UN and their real motives on North Korea (which would be protection of that State)
Finally, I believe a message is being sent to North Korea that we are serious; that all within the law will be pursued if they launch an attack.
With news out that North Korea may be planning on firing a missile toward Hawaii on the 4th of July, and this intercept, the situation may get very interesting, very fast, in the next two weeks.
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